Racial Profiling for the Christian

Wednesday

Jul 24, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Christians should have no part in racial profiling.

Jeanne Chatman

Racial Profiling for the Christian

For the Christian, there should be no racial profiling. There is only one race in the eyes of God, the human race. There are God’s people, and there are people who have not chosen God. Those people who truly believe in God, have accepted the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, repented of their sins, and have chosen to follow the Lord. They are the children of God. Those people who have not done this are not the children of God. They are still His highest form of creation, created in His image, but until they choose Jesus as their Savior and follow Him, they are not children of God. God’s children are brothers and sisters in Christ. They are the family of God. It doesn’t matter what color they are, because God made a wonderful variety of colors and features. All that God has made is beautiful, and it only becomes ugly when sin and Satan enter into it. Should Christians be prejudiced, jealous, hateful, fuss, fight and name call? Absolutely not, and if they do, they need to repent, ask forgiveness, and change their ways immediately. Christians need to represent the Lord Jesus Christ in all they say and do. Christians should not be involved in any form of racial profiling or prejudicial activities. Christians should love their brothers and sisters, and witness to those who are not Christians.

The Black Panthers, the KKK and other similar organizations are not Christian organizations. They do not represent the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christians should stay away from them. Christians should belong to a good Bible believing, serving, witnessing, mission minded church. Unfortunately, too many people who claim to be Christians are not dedicated enough to serve Christ, and to raise their children in church. Thus, winning lost people in our nation is not going well like it should be. Also, too many of our children are lost, because they are not educated in church or witnessed to by their parents. Satan and the demons are running rampant in our country trying to indoctrinate our people with atheism, moral decay, and racial prejudice.

I attended grade school in the 1950’s, high school and college in the 1960’s. It was a turbulent time for racial profiling, and I lived in East St. Louis, Illinois. While the South did racial profiling and hateful prejudicial acts upon black people, the North did racial profiling and hateful prejudicial acts upon white people. All of this was unchristian, and against the will of our Savior. I first noticed the hatred, when I was riding on a city bus. I was sitting on a long side seat at the front with an elderly black man, and a well dressed black lady. My mother, younger sister, and little brother were in the first regularly positioned seat by me. Unlike in the South, black people could sit anywhere they wanted on the bus. During one of the stops, I read huge white painted letters written across the red brick wall of a building. I will never forget what it said, “Death to the blue eyed Devils.” I asked my mother who the blue eyed Devils were, and the elderly black gentleman next to me said, “Don’t worry about that, little girl, it’s just some meanness the Black Panthers are trying to stir up.” Later, at home, Mother told me that the Black Panthers were an organization that promoted hatred toward white people, and that there was another organization, the Klu Klux Klan, that promoted hatred against black people. She said that both were evil and did wicked things. She told me that Christians are not supposed to hate anyone, and are to treat everyone kindly, because Jesus loves all of us.

When I entered my teen years in the 1960’s, racial crimes in East St. Louis became terrible. The Black Panthers incited young men and teenage boys to commit crimes against white people. There were home invasions, vandalism, assaults and murders in our neighborhood. The gangs of teenage boys preyed upon helpless old white people. An elderly lady in her 80’s, who lived three houses down on our street, was beaten, tied to her bed, and her home ransacked. She survived and testified that it was a group of black teenage boys, who had committed the crime against her. An elderly couple, who lived one street over, had their home broken into. They were tied, beaten and their possessions stolen. They also testified that it was a group of black teenage boys. The family who lived across the alley behind also had their home invaded. Their college age son was home. The gang beat and killed the son, cutting off his head. They ravaged the house and stole all the valuable possessions. A neighbor noticed black teenage boys leaving the house with various items, and called the police. These three events happened to people that we knew. The crimes were committed by black teenage gangs. Did these white victims commit crimes against black people? No! Were they members of the KKK? No! Were their ancestors slaveholders? No! They were from the North and their ancestors fought for the Union to free the slaves. Why weren’t the black teenagers in the local high school studying to get an education? East St. Louis High School was integrated. Black and white students both attended the same classes, had the same books, used the same water fountain, and used the same bathrooms. What was the problem? The Black Panthers had incited them to hate white people by telling them about all the crimes that white people had done in the South against black people. However, the poor, elderly, white people that the black teenage gangs victimized were not guilty of the crimes committed by the Southern KKK. Their only crime was being white, old and helpless.

My parents did not want me to attend East St. Louis High School, because they heard about the racial hatred for white people in the school and the beatings that occurred. So, they sold our home and moved to the Bluffs on the outskirts of East St. Louis. Belleville Township High School sent a bus to pick up the students on the bluffs. The first week of school at East St. Louis High, my best friend was cut up her arm by two black students, who were having a knife fight in the hallway. She tried to get out of the way, but couldn’t. My parents were glad that they got their children out of harm’s way, and that we moved. Later on, my cousin was continually persecuted by black students. He was called names, punched, and threatened, because he was a small, blonde, blue eyed white boy.

My aunt lived alone in her home, because her children were grown. She worked every day at an office job, and used the city bus system to travel back and forth. There was a black gang of men who moved in the house next to her. They were not a family. She believed that they were drug dealers. Every day, when she walked up her sidewalk to her front door, they would call her names and threaten to kill her. Her house could not be sold, because it was in a dangerous neighborhood. Her son became very worried about her, because the threats were getting worse and scaring his mother. He came with a big truck, moved out her possessions, and they deserted the nice family home. He bought her a used mobile home and moved it onto his property in a nearby town. He was a good son and fixed up the mobile home very nicely for her with a big front porch and a large back deck. She retired from her job, and didn’t have to worry about being threatened every day. It was a great financial loss to her, but she was able to enjoy her grandchildren every day.

My parents both worked in East St. Louis. My mother was an office worker at Sears and my father was a supervisor at the East St. Louis Post Office. One evening after work, my mother went to the back parking lot to get in her car and go home. A gang of black young men called her names and started coming after her. She ran across the street into the dime store that was fortunately still open. The manager called the police, but the gang was gone. The next week she got a job at Scott Air Force Base, and Daddy didn’t have to worry about her anymore. However, he was still having problems. His car was continually stripped in the parking lot at the Post Office. So, he bought a beat up old pickup truck to drive. There were gangs that hung out around the parking lot, and they would yell obscenities at him and threaten him. He carried a gun for protection and was afraid that he would have to shoot someone if they came after him. With that in mind, he quit his job. Daddy and Mother both got jobs at Fort Leonard Wood. They sold their house on the bluffs in East St. Louis and bought some land outside the Fort in 1968. Daddy built a house, and our family has lived here ever since.

Mother told her children that most of the black people in East St. Louis were good people. She said that we needed to pray for them, because they were treated badly by the hoodlum gangs, also. Because of the multitude of crimes, property value had dropped down to almost nothing. Most people couldn’t afford to move. However, it began to be a common practice for people to just leave their homes, and find somewhere else to live away from East St. Louis. They had to save their children from being influenced by the hoodlums, or from joining a gang, or from being beaten up or even killed.

My parents’ philosophy was that there are good people and bad people in the world, no matter what their color. They taught their children that stereotyping groups of people was very wrong. That is what hate organizations like the KKK and Black Panthers do. Horrible atrocities were committed against black people because they were stereotyped as evil by white hate groups. Horrible atrocities against white people were committed in retaliation because they were stereotyped as evil by black hate groups. This type of thinking is from Satan, and it is what really is evil. Christians should have no part in this type of thinking, which is stereotyping a certain race.

Our family has been acquainted with many black soldiers, and with black families in the area. They have all been very nice, and have treated us well. We are glad to have them as neighbors. We are happy to have them as brothers and sisters in Christ at church. The black students in our schools are great kids, and have been friends with our children. This is how it should be. God’s people need to live together in harmony without hate groups causing mischief and racial profiling.